Dolphins Cut Tua Tagovailoa With Post June 1 Move, Eating a Record $99 Million Dead Money Hit

The Miami Dolphins are moving on from Tua Tagovailoa, and they’re doing it in the most expensive way the NFL salary cap has ever seen.

Miami announced Monday that it plans to release Tagovailoa after the start of the new league year, a decision that will leave the Dolphins with an NFL record $99 million in dead money on the salary cap. A source said the release will carry a post June 1 designation, allowing Miami to split the dead money across two seasons instead of taking the entire hit at once.

The Dolphins included a statement from general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan that signaled a broader roster reset while keeping the language aimed at process rather than personalities.

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“As we move forward, we will be focused on infusing competition across the roster and establishing a strong foundation for this team as we work towards building a sustained winner,” Sullivan said.

The post June 1 mechanics are the key to how Miami is handling the financial blast. With that designation, Tagovailoa’s dead cap is expected to be $67.4 million in 2026 with the remainder pushed into 2027. In practical terms, it’s the difference between swallowing the whole thing now versus spreading the damage over two years and the Dolphins clearly chose the option that lets them function in the present tense.

The release comes after a season that turned sideways late. Tagovailoa was benched with three games remaining in 2025 after he threw 20 touchdowns and a career high 15 interceptions in 14 games. That stat line became the simplest summary of a year where the Dolphins didn’t get the version of Tagovailoa they needed, at the exact moment his contract was about to become the kind of cap number that forces a decision.

The money side has been looming for weeks. Tagovailoa is in the second year of a four year, $212.4 million extension he signed in 2024, and he has $54 million guaranteed in 2026. Even teams that might be intrigued by a fresh start at quarterback had to look at the price tag first, which is why the Dolphins reaching the release point has been treated around the league as a likely outcome once Miami got close to the new league year.

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At the NFL scouting combine in late February, Sullivan was already telegraphing that no option was off limits. He said the team was evaluating everything regarding Tagovailoa’s future, and the cap reality was part of the discussion even then. Monday’s announcement is the final step of that evaluation becoming a transaction.

For Tagovailoa, the release means he will hit the market as a free agent once the move is processed, even though the cap accounting stays on Miami’s books until June 1. The next step for him becomes the part everyone will argue about: what he looks like in a different environment, and how a team prices a quarterback who has proven he can win games but is also coming off a season where turnovers and a late benching defined the final stretch.

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